Planning & Development

Objective:

The SCCA advocates a ‘centres’ approach to strategic planning and development. We work to achieve a level playing field for all retail investments which ensures that no retail format receives a competitive advantage over another.

Background:

Planning laws dictate where retail development can and cannot occur, just as they dictate where office, industrial, or residential development can occur. This is done in the public interest to ensure sensible and sustainable urban development and the maximisation of Government’s investment in infrastrture, including road and public transport infrastructure.

The SCCA endorses the approach taken by governments all over Australia to concentrate retail and commercial uses in designated ‘activity centres’. We constantly urge governments to increase the supply of land for retail purposes in centres, and for the orderly development of new activity centres, rather than allowing an ‘ad hoc’ approach to retail investment which sees significant retail precincts delivered in out-of-centre locations. This ‘ad hoc’ approach leads to investment uncertainty and gives an unfair advantage to so-called ‘new entrants’ into a market.